Water Pollution Is the Contamination of Water Bodies

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e. g. lakes, rivers, oceans and groundwater). Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities. Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.Millions depend on the polluted Ganges river. Water pollution is a major problem in the global context. It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases,[1][2] and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. [2] An estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children die of diarrheal sickness every day. 3] Some 90% of China's cities suffer from some degree of water pollution,[4] and nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. [5] In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well.In the most recent national report on water quality in the United States, 45 percent of assessed stream miles, 47 percent of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were classified as polluted. 6] Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants and either does not support a human use, like serving as drinking water, and/or undergoes a marked shift in its ability to support its constituent biotic communities, such as fish. Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water. [edit]Water pollution categories Surface water and groundwater have often been studied and managed as separate resources, although they are interrelated. 7] Sources of surface water pollution are generally grouped into two categories based on their origin. [edit] Point source pollution Point source pollution – Shipyard – Rio de Janeiro. Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway through a discrete conveyance, such as a pipe or ditch. Examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The U. S. Clean Water Act (CWA) defines point source for regulatory enforcement purposes. 8] The CWA definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial stormwater, such as from construction sites. [9] [edit] Non–point source pollution Non–point source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse contamination that does not originate from a single discrete source. NPS pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. The leaching out of n itrogen compounds from agricultural land which has been fertilized is a typical example.Nutrient runoff in stormwater from â€Å"sheet flow† over an agricultural field or a forest are also cited as examples of NPS pollution. Contaminated storm water washed off of parking lots, roads and highways, called urban runoff, is sometimes included under the category of NPS pollution. However, this runoff is typically channeled into storm drain systems and discharged through pipes to local surface waters, and is a point source. However where such water is not channeled and drains directly to ground it is a non-point source. [edit] Groundwater pollution See also: Hydrogeology Interactions between groundwater and surface water are complex.Consequently, groundwater pollution, sometimes referred to as groundwater contamination, is not as easily classified as surface water pollution. [7] By its very nature, groundwater aquifers are susceptible to contamination from sources that may not dire ctly affect surface water bodies, and the distinction of point vs. non-point source may be irrelevant. A spill or ongoing releases of chemical or radionuclide contaminants into soil (located away from a surface water body) may not create point source or non-point source pollution, but can contaminate the aquifer below, defined as a toxin plume.The movement of the plume, a plume front, can be part of a Hydrological transport model or Groundwater model. Analysis of groundwater contamination may focus on the soil characteristics and site geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, and the nature of the contaminants. [edit] Causes of water pollution The specific contaminants leading to pollution in water include a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical or sensory changes such as elevated temperature and discoloration. While many of the chemicals and substances that are regulated may be naturally occurring (calcium, sodium, ron, manganese, etc. ) the concentration is often the key in determining what is a natural component of water, and what is a contaminant. Oxygen-depleting substances may be natural materials, such as plant matter (e. g. leaves and grass) as well as man-made chemicals. Other natural and anthropogenic substances may cause turbidity (cloudiness) which blocks light and disrupts plant growth, and clogs the gills of some fish species. [10] Many of the chemical substances are toxic. Pathogens can produce waterborne diseases in either human or animal hosts. 11] Alteration of water's physical chemistry includes acidity (change in pH), electrical conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication. Eutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem to an extent that increases in the primary productivity of the ecosystem. Depending on the degree of eutrophication, subsequent negative environmental effects such as anoxia (oxygen depletion) and severe reductions in water quality may occur, affecting fish and other animal po pulations. [edit] Pathogens A manhole cover unable to contain a sanitary sewer overflow.Coliform bacteria are a commonly used bacterial indicator of water pollution, although not an actual cause of disease. Other microorganisms sometimes found in surface waters which have caused human health problems include: †¢Burkholderia pseudomallei †¢Cryptosporidium parvum †¢Giardia lamblia †¢Salmonella †¢Novovirus and other viruses †¢Parasitic worms (helminths). [12][13] High levels of pathogens may result from inadequately treated sewage discharges. [14] This can be caused by a sewage plant designed with less than secondary treatment (more typical in less-developed countries).In developed countries, older cities with aging infrastructure may have leaky sewage collection systems (pipes, pumps, valves), which can cause sanitary sewer overflows. Some cities also have combined sewers, which may discharge untreated sewage during rain storms. [15] Pathogen discharges m ay also be caused by poorly managed livestock operations. [edit] Chemical and other contaminants Muddy river polluted by sediment. Photo courtesy of United States Geological Survey. Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.Organic water pollutants include: †¢Detergents †¢Disinfection by-products found in chemically disinfected drinking water, such as chloroform †¢Food processing waste, which can include oxygen-demanding substances, fats and grease †¢Insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalides and other chemical compounds †¢Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuels, and fuel oil) and lubricants (motor oil), and fuel combustion byproducts, from stormwater runoff[16] †¢Tree and bush debris from logging operations Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as industrial solvents, from improper storage. Chlorinated solvents, which are dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs), may fall to the bottom of reservoirs, since they don't mix well with water and are denser. †¢Various chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic products Inorganic water pollutants include:†¢Acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide from power plants) †¢Ammonia from food processing waste †¢Chemical waste as industrial by-products Fertilizers containing nutrients–nitrates and phosphates–which are found in stormwater runoff from agriculture, as well as commercial and residential use[16] †¢Heavy metals from motor vehicles (via urban stormwater runoff)[16][17] and acid mine drainage †¢Silt (sediment) in runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn practices or land clearing sites Macroscopic pollution—large visible items polluting the water—may be termed â€Å"floatables† in an urban stormwater context, or marine debris when found on the open seas, and can include such items as: †¢Trash (e. . paper, plastic, or food waste) discarded by people on the ground, and that are washed by rainfall into storm drains and eventually discharged into surface waters †¢Nurdles, small ubiquitous waterborne plastic pellets †¢Shipwrecks, large derelict ships Potrero Generating Station discharges heated water into San Francisco Bay. [18] [edit] Thermal pollution Main article: Thermal pollution Thermal pollution is the rise or fall in the temperature of a natural body of water caused by human influence.A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. Elevated water temperatures decreases oxygen levels (which can kill fish) and affects ecosystem composition, such as invasion by new thermophilic species. Urban runoff may also elevate temperature in surface waters. Thermal pollution can also be caused by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs into warmer rivers. [edit] Transport and chemical react ions of water pollutants See also: Marine pollution Most water pollutants are eventually carried by rivers into the oceans.In some areas of the world the influence can be traced hundred miles from the mouth by studies using hydrology transport models. Advanced computer models such as SWMM or the DSSAM Model have been used in many locations worldwide to examine the fate of pollutants in aquatic systems. Indicator filter feeding species such as copepods have also been used to study pollutant fates in the New York Bight, for example. The highest toxin loads are not directly at the mouth of the Hudson River, but 100 kilometers south, since several days are required for incorporation into planktonic tissue.The Hudson discharge flows south along the coast due to coriolis force. Further south then are areas of oxygen depletion, caused by chemicals using up oxygen and by algae blooms, caused by excess nutrients from algal cell death and decomposition. Fish and shellfish kills have been repo rted, because toxins climb the food chain after small fish consume copepods, then large fish eat smaller fish, etc. Each successive step up the food chain causes a stepwise concentration of pollutants such as heavy metals (e. g. mercury) and persistent organic pollutants such as DDT.This is known as biomagnification, which is occasionally used interchangeably with bioaccumulation. A polluted river draining an abandoned copper mine on Anglesey Large gyres (vortexes) in the oceans trap floating plastic debris. The North Pacific Gyre for example has collected the so-called â€Å"Great Pacific Garbage Patch† that is now estimated at 100 times the size of Texas. Many of these long-lasting pieces wind up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. This results in obstruction of digestive pathways which leads to reduced appetite or even starvation.Many chemicals undergo reactive decay or chemically change especially over long periods of time in groundwater reservoirs. A noteworthy class of such chemicals is the chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene (used in industrial metal degreasing and electronics manufacturing) and tetrachloroethylene used in the dry cleaning industry (note latest advances in liquid carbon dioxide in dry cleaning that avoids all use of chemicals). Both of these chemicals, which are carcinogens themselves, undergo partial decomposition reactions, leading to new hazardous chemicals (including dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride).Groundwater pollution is much more difficult to abate than surface pollution because groundwater can move great distances through unseen aquifers. Non-porous aquifers such as clays partially purify water of bacteria by simple filtration (adsorption and absorption), dilution, and, in some cases, chemical reactions and biological activity: however, in some cases, the pollutants merely transform to soil contaminants. Groundwater that moves through cracks and caverns is not filtered and can be transported a s easily as surface water.In fact, this can be aggravated by the human tendency to use natural sinkholes as dumps in areas of Karst topography. There are a variety of secondary effects stemming not from the original pollutant, but a derivative condition. An example is silt-bearing surface runoff, which can inhibit the penetration of sunlight through the water column, hampering photosynthesis in aquatic plants. [edit] Measurement of water pollution Environmental Scientists preparing water autosamplers. Water pollution may be analyzed through several broad categories of methods: physical, chemical and biological.Most involve collection of samples, followed by specialized analytical tests. Some methods may be conducted in situ, without sampling, such as temperature. Government agencies and research organizations have published standardized, validated analytical test methods to facilitate the comparability of results from disparate testing events. [19] [edit] Sampling Sampling of water for physical or chemical testing can be done by several methods, depending on the accuracy needed and the characteristics of the contaminant. Many contamination events are sharply restricted in time, most commonly in association with rain events.For this reason â€Å"grab† samples are often inadequate for fully quantifying contaminant levels. Scientists gathering this type of data often employ auto-sampler devices that pump increments of water at either time or discharge intervals. Sampling for biological testing involves collection of plants and/or animals from the surface water body. Depending on the type of assessment, the organisms may be identified for biosurveys (population counts) and returned to the water body, or they may be dissected for bioassays to determine toxicity. [edit] Physical testingCommon physical tests of water include temperature, solids concentration like total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity. [edit] Chemical testing See also: water chemistry anal ysis and environmental chemistry Water samples may be examined using the principles of analytical chemistry. Many published test methods are available for both organic and inorganic compounds. Frequently used methods include pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nutrients (nitrate and phosphorus compounds), metals (including copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury), oil and grease, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and pesticide

Enron Collapse

What are the main reasons that Enron collapsed? I think the reasons for the collapse are three fold. Firstly Enron’s accounting practices(mark to market accounting- companies estimate how much revenue a deal is going to bring in and state that number in their earnings the moment the contract is signed) Its managements goal was to maintain the appearance of value by always having rising stock prices rather than focus on creating real value for the company.Secondly its reliance on Special Purpose Entities to constantly raise capital without increasing its indebtedness. It allowed losses to be kept off the books while assets to be stated. Enron had its own executives manage these partnerships and would make the deals work by guaranteeing that if whatever they had to sell off declined in value, enron would make up the difference in its own stock. So basically it was selling part of itself to itself.It was these financial bolications to the SPE’s that ended up triggering the collapse. Thirdly its lack of a truly independent auditor to stand up to Enron ultimately caused its downfall. 2. Do you think Enron could have survived? I think if the company had acted internally when Sharon Watkins reported suspicious accounting, and dealt with it internally , Im sure the share prices would have dropped upon reporting of the actual financials but maybe the company could have avoided bankruptcy. 3.Crisis Management Consultant of Arthur Anderson, what would your advice be to the CEO? I think I would have admitted the absurdity of performing both auditing and consulting functions I maybe would have focused on the hiring of of Arthur anderson employees as enron employees, who then managed the affairs of their old colleagues. Ethical lines got blurred. Then use this platform to lead the industry to reforms and act oversear of how to avoid their mistakes and breakdowns of communication within their corporation.

Should the Drinking Age Remain at 21 or Be Lowered to 18

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Effect of Gradient on the Abundance of Ranunculus Repens Coursework

Effect of Gradient on the Abundance of Ranunculus Repens - Coursework Example First action to betaken is to identify the cause of the disease. This made me to study on the causes of the disease and what I found was that is caused by a plant called Ranunculus repens. This concerned me and I had to do a project on this plant. This is because Ranunculus repens have both the negative and positive effects on the environment. One of the reasons that I chose to do a project on Ranunculus repens is because of its unique property that can be used to treat musculoskeletal disorders. According to PFAF, chewing leaves of this plant will help in healing muscular pain. Therefore, my research can help us to understand the optimum conditions required for Ranunculus repens to grow so that higher yields of the plant can be obtained for its medicinal usage. The other reason for choosing Ranunculus repens as a project is that it is thought to be poisonous for humans and animals if eaten fresh and I think this is something that we as humans should be aware of especially agricultur alists. According to Garden Organic Ranunculus repens â€Å"can cause diarrhea in sheep and cattle. Ranunculus repens depletes potassium in soil making it inadequate for other plants. Therefore this particular plant is not suitable for grazing, especially cattle. My project can provide useful material for farmers about the plant e.g. where they mostly occur. Based on my project Farmers may decide not to graze their animals on a place where Ranunculus repens are most common in order to obtain higher meat yields. The farmers may also decide to manage their grassland to minimize the growth of Ranunculus repens to avoid its noxious effect. An alternative reason for choosing this plant involves its unique and attractive colour and structure. â€Å"It is essential to preserve our remaining natural heritage for future generations. Wildlife and geological features are under pressure from development, pollution, climate change and unsustainable land management. Therefore it is useful to st udy the important biological properties of the plants in order to maintain them e.g. by knowing their niche will help us to provide the best conditions possible for Ranunculus repens to survive and develop. Scientific background Ranunculus repens has many features that makes that makes it survive in its habitats. It grows well in wet environments as compared to its growth in dry conditions. Ranunculus repens competes for light, moisture and nutrients with other plants. This pressure has made it to have some adaptations to this environment. They are submerged in water making them lose diffusion pathways of getting oxygen between their roots and the atmosphere. This made roots to have elongated shoots that help them get oxygen from the atmosphere. Both leaves and the shoots come grow outward to the water surfaces to help the plant get oxygen from the air. Bodies of Ranunculus repens are submerged in water. They strive to get oxygen, light and nutrients from the environment. They get l ight through their leaves that are growing to the water surfaces. This helps them to absorb light from the atmosphere and make their food through photosynthesis. The leaves also help them get oxygen from the environment. All these features have made wet conditions suitable for their survival. Hypothesis of this research is to identify the effects of land gradient on the growth of Ranunculus repens. Null Hypothesis - There will be no difference in the abundance of Ranunculus rep

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 28

Business Law - Essay Example The Uniform Commercial Code has been promulgated in several US states and this makes its application binding in commercial transaction cases in various States. On the other hand, the case of Willard v Taylor will only be advisory in respect to the case of Beneficial v Google since the facts in the two cases are not identical and thus the outcome in the two will be different. Additionally, the case is not current and it does not reflect all the issues contained in the current case. The rapid shifting dynamics of the contents and requirements of contract law makes the case only advisory1. The ethical issues involved in this legal dispute include trust and inappropriate charges. The initial contract between Google and Beneficial Innovations provided that Beneficial would not bring patent infringement claims against Google or its customers. When Beneficial brought a claim for infringement of patents by Google‘s customers, it breached the agreement it had entered into agreeing not to sue Google or its customers. This breach violated the trust that had been established when the contract was formed. The claim by Beneficial for damages also placed inappropriate charges on Google as the action was against the agreement. Under duty based ethics, the outcome in this case would be to find Beneficial Innovations in breach of contract as allowing them to collect from the patent infringement claims would be harmful to Google. Duty based ethics require that if a party could be injured, then corrective measures should be taken to eliminate the harm. Beneficial‘s actions are harmful and finding them in breach of contract would correct the breach by deterring them from further infringement. On the other hand, under the outcome based ethics an outcome in favor of Google would be suitable. Outcome based ethics provide that the outcome any event should yield the greatest good for the greatest number.

International Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

International Management - Essay Example There is no care about privacy in US, people must be informed and given chance to object when their information is sent outside for direct marketing, data cannot be sent outside in Italy, and all direct mails should contain the name and address of the data owner in Spain are some of the best examples for how culture affects internet. Internet affects the culture or social systems more than how culture or social systems affect internet use. It is because; internet has caused drastic changes in society. Online communication such as chatting, emailing and webinars, and other modes of interactions such social media, online sales, advertising and e-marketing have tremendously changes culture and social systems. Traditionally, people went to work. But now, with the advent of internet, work comes to home as millions of people worldwide work from home for making money is a good example for how internet affects culture. As markets become increasingly globalized, it is very important to identify and evaluate operational conflicts between nations, religions, values and cultures. In international business contexts or other relations, there can be some operational conflicts due to differences in perceptions of time, change, individualism and material factors. Americans find time as limited and therefore they keep deadline strictly. They feel frustrated when others in a company fail to meet deadlines. For them time is to be saved and they keep specific schedules for saving time. Perspectives of time are largely affected by the religious and cultural views or values. For instance, Deresky (2011, p.104) stated that Arabs regard ‘deadline’ as a kind of insult in them while it is imposed by others to them whereas Americans take an approach of ‘firm commitment’ to meeting deadlines. Individualism is about ‘I’ consciousness. Americans give greater significance to viewing private lives

We must ban animal testing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

We must ban animal testing - Essay Example In the testing of cosmetics, various cleaners and various other consumer products, numerous animals are putrefied, made blind and killed each year by companies. These animals are supposed to breathe in poisonous gases, dogs are required to eat insecticides while rabbits have scarring compounds smeared on their bodies and eyes. Most of the tests that are conducted on animals are not a requirement of the law and in most cases; their outcomes are inexact and misrepresentative. Regardless of whether a product harms an animal or not, it still ends up in the shelves for customers to buy (PETA). The fatal and unpleasant experiments that take place as part of huge supervisory analysis initiatives are in most instances financed by taxpayers’ money. Thesis: Millions of animals experience suffering and are ultimately killed in various kinds of experiments even though modern alternatives have demonstrated that they can produce more accurate results compared to the animal tests Animals testing, which is also known as in vivo testing involves the use of animals that are not human in testing some where some of the experiments entail the observation of the behavior of the animals. These tests are conducted in universities, medical institutions, drug companies and commercial facilities that provide the services to other industries. Some of the research entails pure research like genetics, developmental biology, testing of drugs as well as cosmetics among other things. The animals may also be used in teaching various disciplines, breeding purposes as well as defense tests, but the activity of using animals in testing has varying degrees of regulation in different nations. Globally, it is approximated that the number of animals ranging from fish to primates used every year may reach tens of millions and sometime more than a hundred million. These numbers do not include the invertebrates like mice and frogs

Why was King Leopold so Successful in suppressing information about Essay

Why was King Leopold so Successful in suppressing information about his congo ventures - Essay Example Today, the whole rubber terror created by King Leopold has been forgotten altogether, and is not discussed at all. In the book, King Leopold’s Ghost, the author Adam Hochschild refers to this fact as â€Å"the great forgetting.† The book sufficiently offers a well researched account of the brutality, greed and exploitation that Africans were offered by the King Leopold. Through this book, the author has made an attempt to revive all events of primary importance that speak of the long forgotten brutality that King Leopold displayed in Congo. Throughout the book, the concept of Leopold has been shown as larger than life. Paradoxically, the title of the book refers to the ghost of King Leopold, and not his physical being which raises many questions in the mind of the reader. The last chapter of the book named the â€Å"great forgetting† answers all of these questions and also talks about the biggest tragedy among all that have been talked about in the preceding chap ters. King Leopold made a lot of wealth from Congo and his operation made the Congolese incur a lot of cost in all respects. However, all of it suddenly came to an end after the independence of Congo in 1971. Belgium became a part of the European Union.

Economic Crisis in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Crisis in Europe - Essay Example This report will discuss the root causes of economic crisis in Greek and Spain followed by discussing some economic and financial strategies these countries have implemented to deal with the on-going economic and financial problems within its banking sector. Eventually, several lessons drawn from the public policies which aim to improve the performance of the banking industry in Greece and Spain including the broader economy in general will be tackled in details. Prior to conclusion, potential implications on other European economies and the U.S. will be identified if the on-going European economic crisis is left unmanaged. Root Causes of Economic Crisis in Greek and Spain The economic crisis in Greek started in mid-2000s when the country was adversely affected by the global financial crisis. Specifically the global financial crisis during the mid-2000s has triggered a significant impact on its tourism, banking, insurance, and shipping industry (Talebi, 2012). To keep its economy sus tainable, the Greek government went through a series of loan from the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and some major banks in France and Germany (Alderman & Ewing, 2012; The New York Times, 2012). Since the total government deficit of Greece has reached $400 billion, its interest rate increases while the Fitch downgraded its sovereign debt rating to â€Å"BB+ status† or â€Å"junk status† (Hurriyet Daily News, 2012; Kollewe & Neville, 2012; The New York Times, 2011). As a result of excessive government deficit, Europe’s economic recovery is now being threatened (The New York Times, 2012). The case of Spain is similar but totally different from Greece. Even though the Spanish government has incurred a high government deficit, this country managed to cut down its government deficit from 11.2% down to 9.2%, and 8.5% in 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively (Weardan, 2012; Johnson, 2011). Due to high unemploym ent rate of 23.3% (Eurostat, 2012), Spain is unable to control its private mortgage debt (The Economist, 2012). Eventually, failure to manage the private mortgage debt can lead to economic problem related to housing bubble (Egan, 2012; Smyth, Callanan, & Doyle, 2012). Economic and Financial Strategies Implemented by Greek and Spain In general, government bailout is considered as a significant part of a country’s gross debt but not as a sovereign debt. For this reason, the Greek and Spanish governments are using government bailouts as a strategy to solve their economic and financial problems. Specifically the Greek government started requesting for a series of bailout loans to make its economy run under a normal economic condition. Back then, its first bailout loan worth $146.2 billion (â‚ ¬110 billion) happened on the 1st of May 2010 (BBC News, 2012) followed by its second bailout loan worth â‚ ¬130 billion in October 2011 (The New York Times, 2012). Using these bailout loans, the Greek government was able to reduce its primary government deficits even before it reaches the interest payments. As a result, the Greek government was able to cut down its deficit from â‚ ¬24.7billion in 2009 (Smith, 2012) to â‚ ¬5.2 in 2011 (Financial Info, 2012). There are several economic consequences with regards to Greek government’s decision to increase taxes on private sectors. First of all, its private sector and the overall economic growth of the country that is badly affected with the use of

The value of GCC currencies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The value of GCC currencies - Research Paper Example Conclusion: 14 8. Bibliography: 15 1. Introduction: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is also known as the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG). It is a political and economic union of the Arab states neighboring the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula. The six member states of the GCC are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. They are often known as â€Å"The GCC States.† Some of the general objectives of GCC countries are a follows: promotion of scientific and technical progress in different industries like mining, agriculture, water and animal resources; setting up joint ventures among the member states; cheering cooperation of the private sectors; strengthening ties between the peoples of the member countries; and establishing and developing a common currency for all the member countries. The common currency of GCC is known as Khaleeji (meaning Gulf in Arabic). At present, the GCC monetary union is the third moneta ry union in the world in terms of GDP, after the Euro and 2) the unofficial monetary union between the United States and the Latin American countries which declared the US dollar as their currency. There are certain problems now facing the GCC council. According to IMF report (1997), the key challenge facing the GCC countries was the financial condition and valuation of the currency in the member countries of GCC. ... The exception in GCC is Kuwait, where the currency is valued to a group of currencies that is heavily weighted in favor of the US dollar. Therefore, the exchange of the Kuwaiti Dinar to the US dollar remains relatively stable. In last five year the rate of Kuwaiti Dinar is always within 0.27-0.29 to US dollar (QNB, 2012, p.31). During 2008, GCC countries were facing the inflation as it was reached up to 11. 2%. According to the financial analyst, revolution of the economy in the upward direction was helpful in order to control the inflation rate which helped to bring down the import cost. According to the report the GCC monetary union project was mainly inspired by the Euro. The problem which was face by different countries that have Euro as their currency is a helpful tool for the monetary policy makers in GCC countries to figure out the loopholes and act accordingly. This evaluation is helpful to figure out whether introducing a common currency for all the member countries of GCC i s efficient or not (QNB, 2012, p.31). 1.2. Economic Structure: It is very clear from different research that the growth of GCC as one of the strongest economy of the world is mainly on the basis of highs price of gas and oil (energy sector), and also with the help of rapid economic growth. During 2007-2011, the world GDP growth rate was 2.8% where as, GDP growth in GCC was a staggering 4.7% making it the fastest growing group of country in the world (QNB, 2012, p.4). According to the report of QNB (2012), the GCC economy has seen a golden period during 2003- 08, when GDP grew at the rate of 19.9%. This was a result of continuously increasing demand for energy sources as an outcome of robust global development, particularly in Developing Asia (QNB,

Mandatory Nurse-Patient ratios in Pennsylvania Essay

Mandatory Nurse-Patient ratios in Pennsylvania - Essay Example One-half of the nurse staffing committee members should be registered nurses currently delivering direct patient care and the rest of the members may be determined by the hospital administration (ARON, 2013). The committee is authorized by the house bill to consider matters such as competencies of the nurses and patients’ acuity. In addition to nurse-patient ratios, this bill also addresses several other concerns including intensity of care, staff skills mix, availability of support staff in the shift, and the physical environment. Michael and Page (2010) state that nurse staff shortage or understaffing has been a major issue leading to medical negligence, clinical errors, and poor quality healthcare (p.102). To illustrate, a study published in 2002 found that surgery patients in hospitals with high nurse-patient ratios are at 31% increased risk of mortality. Similarly, a report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicated that improvement in nurse-patient ratios can decrease rescue failures and hospital stays. A research work published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2005 (as cited in Conis, 2009) suggested that an improved nurse-patient ratio of 1:4 could save up to 72,000 lives a year. Long working schedules, inflexible work shifts, and work overload often force professional nurses to consider leaving the profession. A recent study by Okrent (2012) indicated that roughly 45% of the nurses planned to make major career changes over the next three years. It is dreadful to no te that a significant percent of the current nursing workforce considers professions outside nursing. This adverse situation justifies the need of implementing a nursing policy that would better regulate nurse staffing ratios in the country and thereby contribute to staff satisfaction. Statistical evidences suggest that hospitals incur huge nurse turnover

Factors Influencing the Use of Presidential Veto Essay Example for Free

Factors Influencing the Use of Presidential Veto Essay The democratic system of government relies mainly upon the proper functioning and the harmonious relationship between its three main branches: The Executive Department which has the power to execute the law; b) the Legislative Branch which has the power to propose, enact, amend and repeal the law; c) the Judiciary which has the power to interpret the law. Our constitution has divided these three most important functions to these three departments which are considered co-equal and supreme authority within their own domain. The principle of separation of powers has for its aim the prevention of the over concentration of authority in one person or group of persons that might lead to an error or abuse to the prejudice of the whole state. The idea is that the separation of power will produce greater action on the part of these three departments, prevent any of these three departments from over-extending their authority to the point of encroaching into the domains of the other department, to prevent the possibility of abuse by any department in the exercise of its power and to obtain maximum efficiency in the delivery of public service. Austin Ranney (1995) once said that any concentration of powers in a single branch is tyrannical and only true separation of powers will protect the liberties of the people against the aggressions of government. (Austin Ranney, p. 240) Checks and Balances The US Constitution has provided for the principle known as the checks and balances. Under this principle, the constitution has given each department certain powers by which it may restrain the other department from improvident action. This enables the whole state to maintain the right balance among them and preserve the will of the sovereign as expressed in the constitution. Thus, pursuant to the principle of Checks and Balances, one department is allowed to resist encroachments made by one department against another or to rectify mistakes and errors committed by the other department. The principle of separation of powers should not however be interpreted to mean that there is a sibling rivalry of some sort in the exercise of the powers of these departments. The fact remains that even if one department may control, interfere with or encroach upon the acts done by another department pursuant to the constitution, it is still the policy that each department have to interact with one another to achieve a unity of purpose. There is therefore no wall of isolation or animosity among the three departments. Blending of Powers Corollary to the principle of separation of powers and the checks and balances is the principle of blending of powers which is very evident in the manner every democratic government runs. In the performance of a constitutional task, one department acts in a manner complimentary to or supplementary to the other. The principles of separation of powers, checks and balances and blending of powers can be adequately explained in the manner of enactment of laws and statutes. The principle of separation of powers provides that to the legislative belongs the power and authority to enact, amend and repeal a law. To the executive department belongs the power to implement the law. Thus bills are passed by Congress and sent to the President for his approval. The principle of checks and balances is manifested in the way the president vetoes the bills passed by the Congress. The power to veto bills passed by Congress is stated under Article 1 Section 7 of the United States Constitution, to wit: â€Å"Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. (Article 1, Section 7, United States Constitution) Though the Congress enacts the law, the president has the prerogative to reject the law through his exercise of the veto power. In effect, the President, theoretically, can indirectly become a lawmaker by rejecting bills passed by Congress and by proposing to the Congress that certain bills be passed. The same is true for Congress which may greatly influence the exercise of the President of his authority to implement the law. It is clearly stated in the US Constitution that it has the power to override the veto power of the President provided it has the required numbers supporting it, to wit: â€Å"If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. † (Article 1, Sec 7, United States Constitution) In addition, to its power to override presidential veto, Congress may opt to exercise pressure to the president by not confirming certain presidential appointments which the constitution has delegated to the Legislative Branch. In addition, the Congress may also exercise its power to commence and initiate its power of Impeachment. (Gary W. Copeland) In effect, the Congress if it really wants to enact a bill into law may convince the President with the exercise of its power to sign the bills into law. Factors Why the President Veto Legislation There are different views on the president’s exercise of his veto power. Some say that the more the president exercises his veto power the more effective leader he is. (Jong R. Lee) The theory is that a president who can influence the Congress is more likely to veto a bill and once vetoed this bill will not be overridden by Congress. This appears to be conclusive considering the following statistics: from the time of Washington to Nixon the veto was used 2,257 times. Out of these, only 75 vetoes or only 6% have been overridden by Congress. On the other hand, some say that the president’s exercise of veto is a sign of weakness on his part. The idea here is that if the president really had control and influence over the Congress then they would not have passed these bills that prompted the president to override them in the first place. The veto power is one of the potent weapons which a president may exercise under our democratic system of government. It is even stated that it is the power of the President to veto legislations that make him a dominant American political figure. Copeland) The veto power of the president serves as a check to the power of the Legislative branch to make laws by exercising its veto power. One of the reasons cited for the exercise of the veto powers is because the bill is unconstitutional. The primary function of the President is not to please his political party or to please the electorates. His main responsibility is to protect the constitution and to ensure that the laws are passed i n accordance with the United States Constitution. As its protector, the Constitution has expressly given the president the power to veto bills which are unconstitutional. Thus, several presidents have in the past vetoed bills on the ground of their unconstitutionality. Thus, consider President Andrew Jackson who vetoed bills that seek to extend the charter of the Second Bank of the United States because he insisted the Bank was beyond the power of Congress to create. (Bruce Fein) Aside from the bill’s unconstitutionality, the president has also in the past vetoed bills based on serious ethical and moral grounds. One particular example is HR 810 or the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2006 which authorized the Secretary of State to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic cells. This bill was vetoed by the president. (â€Å"Message to the House of Representatives†) In his veto message dated July 19, 2006, President George W. Bush states that as though he is in favor of exploring the potentials of the research on stem cell, he however is apprehensive about the ethical repercussions of the said research. Signing this bill will allow the deliberate destruction of human embryos for the purpose of research which is damaging to our nation. In addition, it is widely acknowledged that the past president have used the veto power not merely to protect the constitution. The president has in the past used the veto power not merely as a means for protecting the constitution but also for various political purposes. It bears stressing that not all presidents have the support of the Congress. Several presidents in the past have to contend with a hostile Congress to get the needed legislations they wanted. If the president would not be firm in his response, it is possible that certain important pieces of legislations may not be passed at all. To avoid this from happening some presidents in the past have resorted to the extreme method of vetoing more laws to remind that that he holds the power. Consider the case of Franklin D. Roosevelt who in the past occasionally vetoed a piece of legislation simply to remind Congress that he is still in control (Richard E. Neustadt 1976) Harry Truman and Gerald Ford used the veto power for the purpose of determining differences in Congress to build a political base. (Neudstadt) It is the essence of democracy that the legislative and executive departments though they perform different tasks are co-equal. This may or may not be advantageous for the whole citizenry depending on the condition of the nation. It may happen that the country may experience economic difficulties. During this time, laws must be swiftly passed so that the needs of the people will be addressed more quickly. The ideal reaction would be that the Congress should communicate with the President so that they will have an understanding of what kind of laws need to be passed that can help improve the lives of the people. However, the exact opposite happens during economic difficulties. It is at this point that everybody wants to go grandstanding thinking that it is his best time to point the blame to another politician. It is at this time when every politician wants to be recognized for the littlest things he has done in the past. It is because of this reason that during economic difficulties and hardships there are more bills that are being vetoed by the president. Research has also shown that the president who feels that more voters are in his favor are more likely to use the veto power. The idea here is that the more the president thinks that he has the electorate on his side the more that he will tend to exercise this power to veto legislation. This could be measured by analyzing the results of the election in the past, the higher the votes the president gets the more likely it is that he will exercise this power. The political party who sponsored the bill may also influence the decision of the president whether he will veto it or not. The theory is that the more votes the bill receives from the members of his own party in Congress, the more likely that the president will sign the bill into law. On the other hand, the less votes the bill receives from the members of his own party, the more likely it is that the president will not sign the bill into law. Normally, when a bill is sponsored by a representative from a political party different from that o the president, the best thing for him to do if he seeks to have the bill passed into law is to compromise with the president and the other political party. Compromise can be manifested by deleting some portions of the bill which is objectionable on the part of the other political party. It bears stressing that if the sponsor of the bill refuses to eliminate these objectionable portions it is more likely that the president will likewise refuse to sing the bill into law and veto it. Conclusion The democratic system of government is indeed a complex system which requires the proper balance among its three branches. Based on the foregoing, there are many factors why a president may make use of his veto power. It could be because of the personality of the president. There are some presidents who are more inclined to veto legislations because they feel they have support of the electorate. President may also veto legislation because of the person sponsoring the bill. It is possible if the sponsor of the bill is someone other than a party mate of the president and the former does not make any compromises with the president such as deleting any objectionable portion of the bill then it is possible that the bill may be vetoed. Also, it could be because of the defects in the bill itself such as it is unconstitutional, unethical and immoral or may be because it is not yet timely.

The Importance Of Recruitment And Selection Business Essay

The Importance Of Recruitment And Selection Business Essay The following chapter critically reviews relevant literature on the nature of recruitment and selection. This is based on the understanding that there is a key difference between recruitment and selection. The key differences highlighted in the literature are therefore discussed firstly. Reasons why organisations recruit staff are then considered, focusing on why the banking sector has a particular interest. Factors impacting on recruitment and selection are analysed. Recruitment and selection methods are then evaluated. At the end of this chapter, a brief conclusion of the above is concluding whether there are any best practices available for organisations to ensure a good recruitment and selection process. Differences between recruitment and selection In the literature differences between recruitment and selection are identified, though they are the components of one system. For example Taylor (2008) highlights that recruitment is used to attract well qualified applicants. Similarly Pilbeam and Corbridge (2002) state recruitment aims to attract suitably qualified candidates for particular positions. It is the phase directly before selection. Moreover Stredwick (2006) describes recruitment policy as an organisations performance manner, including rules and regulations to be followed. On the contrary, Taylor (2008) indicates that in selection, employer picks out the best and rejects the others from recruitment pool, also known as negative activity. Similarly Edenborough (2005) states selection as a combination of different processes which lead towards the choices of suitable candidates over others. From the above, it can be synthesised that recruitment is basically an attraction of the candidates for the available post, however in selection employer chooses the best available candidate for the post. Nature of recruitment In nature of recruitment, the reasons why organisations recruit staff are discussed. Firstly, an organisation recruits because of an increase in the business volume, which requires more skilful staff to meet the needs and demands of customer. According to the Heraty et al. (1997), that organisations are altered their structures that are built on functions and jobs, to empower individuals with diverse backgrounds, are replacing conventional specialised workers. Secondly, an organisation recruits because it needs a replacement for a leaver or entirely new vacancy occours. Sometimes recruitment is just because of the short of knowledge and pair of hands in an organisation. The empty space is necessary to be filled and it is purely a functional matter. Thirdly, staff turnover is the reason of recruitment in an organisation. Employee turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees. In other words, it means that how long employees be likely to stay in the organisation. Employee turnover is calculated for individual companies and for their industry as a whole. If an organisation acheives high turnover relative to its competitors, shows that its employees have a shorter average tenure than other organisations. The productivity of an organisation suffers, if there is high turnover because of high number of begainer employees. If the resourcing process of an organisation is not validate to employee right people for the right posts then there is a tendency of people leaving the organisation more often than competitors. It puts very bad impact on business operations because the number of important positions are oftenly empty which delays the completion of operations as well as the new employee takes some time to adjust and thus creates some more problems for organisation. Also organisation invests a huge amount of cost in recrutment process and because of the wrong resourcing policy or wrong selection tool organisation losse it all. It creates the unconsistancy amongst the staff and customers behaviour as well and ultimately effects profit of the organisation. Nothing can be more frustrating to a small business owner or manager than the constant aggravation of employee turnover. High or low employee turnover can be detrimental for organisations. Employee turnover can vary as a result of the industry and location of organisation. For instance, the food service industry typically experiences turnover of 100-300%. The stress of employee turnover is much greater on smaller businesses than larger corporations. There is a valid formula designed for calculation of employee turnover used by many banks all over the world. Total employee turnover cost = Costs of hiring new employees + Costs of training new employees Factors impacting on recruitment and selection There are some following factors impacting on the recruitment selection for an organisations decision making. Economic: The salary packages offered by the organisations to its employees are sometimes resulting in the staff expectations, which create difficulties for organisations. Sometimes the location of an organisation is also contributes to the difficulties in attracting skilled and experience applicants. Conversely, Gribben (1999), state that organisations are cutting back on recruitment despite growing confidence of economy. Demographic: Demographic factors are the most important factors affecting on the recruitment. These factors state (Linda, 2001) that in future the number of older people is increasing and younger people is decreasing. If so, there will be shortage of young skilled workers in future and organisations have to recruit multi-skilled employees and work hard to retain their employees. Social: Linda (2001), states that the appropriate candidate availability can be influenced because of the social blend of the labour group, which probably limit the types of skills required. Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have direct impact on recruitment practices. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best performers. However, the recruiters need to be able to understand the process, skills and able to take a systematic approach for the successful process. Recruitment methods The business scenario and job vacancy shows how the employer performs the whole recruitment process, from submitting a recruitment request, to advertising the vacancy and selecting personnel, to closing the recruitment cycle.  It consists of three business participants; the candidate, the employer and the external service provider. The candidate is the internal or external  person who is actively or passively looking for a new position.  The employer takes both the role of the hiring manager and the recruiter. The hiring manager is the one who has an open position to fill. The recruiter is an HR department employee who helps the hiring manager to  find suitable candidates and select and employ the right persons. The employer submits a recruitment request for the positions to be filled. For this recruitment request the employer looks the available talents and then  specifies the recruitment plan, for example which target group should be given first choice, where to advertise , and so on. The most appropriate candidates receive an offer from employer and if the candidates accept the offer, the employer closes the recruitment cycle and prepares for their hiring. There are mainly two types of recruitment methods which a manager can recruit; internal and external recruitment. Internal recruitments: Before going for external resources i.e. advertising, agencies or consultants, it is important to review of an internal recruitment for candidates are made. Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within its existing workforce. Most of the private sector employers, as a matter of course, attempt to fill vacancies internally before they consider looking for people outside the organization (Newell 2005; CIPD 2007). According to Fuller and Huber (1998), internal recruitment consists of four methods i.e. promotions from within, lateral transfers, job rotation and rehiring former employees. Similarly, in internal recruitment promotion and transfer of existing personnel or through referrals, by current staff members, of friends and family members. Where internal recruitment is the chosen method, job openings can be advertised by job posting, which is a strategy of placing notices on manual and electronic bulletin boards, in company newsletters and through office memoranda. Referrals are usually word-of-mouth advertisements that are a low-cost-per-hire way of recruiting. In each of these methods the current or former staff of the organisations is made aware of the opportunities available to develop their career wi th some new role. Pros: The vacancies can be advertised using notice boards, newsletters, intranet system etc which is very much cost effective and a big advantage for the employers to retain their experienced employees by providing them these career developing opportunities. Other advantages according to Taylor (2008), includes that the employers dont have to spend huge investment on staff training, the time taken to fill the vacancy is usually much quicker and also enhancing motivation commitment among existing staff. In other words when the existing employees know that they get promotion by doing excelent work or completing the task well and less time than others, which give them motivation to do satisfactory work for organisation, if they need promotion. Cons: Internal recruitment is like an old way that tends to carry out the tasks and work in existing ways of thinking. There are also some strong arguments put forward by some researchers writers against the internal recruitment. Heneman (2000) states that traditional approach of internal recruitment starts with the assumption that the individual from the organisation can be promoted upwards and is capable of fulfilling the required persons post. The managers hence are more attentive to analyse the work of the available working staff suitable for the vacancy and employees start competing each other for the promotion. Because of the internal competition between employees for promotion there are some problems i.e. employees attitude, which can be harmful for the organisations atmosphere and goals. This type of recruitment is useful for smaller organisations but not for bigger ones or MNCs. Because small firms have very limited resources regarding to thier finances so firms hesitate to spend a big amount of finance on external recruitment and traning of employees, even at the cost of putting inappropriate or less experianced person for vacant place. New experience is also need of a time for any organisation in t odays competitive world. Similarly Hirish (2000) highlights that sometimes the promoted person is less capable of handling all the situations required by the post i.e. rehabilitate the failed internal candidates so as to avoid the bad performances, unnecessary resignations and collapse in office relationship. In other words the promoted person usually dont have interpersonal qualities to motivate theose employees who are having some problems as well as keep an eye on their needs thoughts or not a perfect choice for the required post. Internal recruitment does not always produce the number or quality of personnel needed i.e. the organisation needs to recruit from external sources, either by encouraging walk-in applicants; advertising vacancies in newspapers, magazines and journals, and the visual and/or audio media; using employment agencies to head hunt; advertising on-line via the Internet; or through job fairs and the use of college recruitment. External recruitments: External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant outside the business. It is the process of attracting and selecting employees from outside the organization. It depends entirely on the numbers and level of the vacancies. Process of identifying and hiring best qualified candidates, from outside of an organisation, for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner. There are numerous different approaches used to attract the external employees, in which some of them are more conservative than the others. According to Taylor (2008) banks use following methods of advertisement of the job posts for external employees; printed media, external agencies, education liaison and other methods i.e. personal reccomendations, telephonic interviews, internet etc When managers deciding, which method to use for recruitment, they also have to consider other methods benefits back draws. Recruiters always think about every option available for t hem and then deciding the best one for organisation. The line managers of any organisation is the most responsible person regarding to recruitment and selection because they are solely responsible for decision making at the initial stages of process, whether or not the applicant fulfil the requirement for the required post (Heraty Morley, 1998).   There are some different ways or methods through which line managers and HR department work combinely to recruit employees. Print Media In print media national newspapers, local newspapers, trade professional journals and magazines are suitable for attracting the candidates. Advertisements are the most common form of external recruitment. They can be found in many places (local and national newspapers, notice boards, recruitment fairs) and McKenna Beech (2002) emphasies that this should include some important information relating to the available vacancy (job title, pay package, location, job description, how to apply-either by CV or application form). Because by doing this, only those candidates will apply for the job who are capable of fulfilling the requirements of the organisation and resisting those who are not appropriate. Where a business chooses to advertise will depend on the cost of advertising and the coverage needed (i.e. how far away people will consider applying for the job. The choice of publication depend upon target audiance and Paddison (1990), explains that by doing appropriate advertisement an o rganisation can also acheive the diversity objectives as well. External Agencies In external agencies, job centres are the most important recruitment methods. Job centres are paid for by the government and are responsible for helping the unemployed find jobs or get training. They also provide a service for businesses needing to advertise a vacancy and are generally free to use. This is a good for business because by doing this organisation attracts a big pool of applicants, who fulfil all the requirements of vacant post and organisation has a good choice to pick a right and suitable person. It is also a cost effective way of sourcing candiadtes for interview. Public service agencies enjoy greater exposure to scrutiny than most private sector organisations; therefore, openness and transparency in recruitment and selection practices are crucial. The discussion that follows will identify some of the options available for attracting applicants to the public service job market and discuss strategies for managing the process. The external service provider is an external agent who supports the overall recruitment strategies, the use of various media channels,  the assessments of candidates and pre- employment checks. Another way of recruitment is Recruitment agency. These agencies provides employers with details of suitable candidates for a vacancy and can sometimes be referred to as head-hunters. They work for a fee and often specialise in particular employment areas e.g. nursing, financial services, teacher recruitment. When organisation wishes to fill a vacancy of senior post or a highly specialist person required then the organisations have very small choices because of huge expected qualification. For this purpose, managers use Executive search agencies. These agencies charge very high cost for their services. External agencies are very benificial and cost effective way of recruitment for organisations especially for the banks but it is very lengthy and time taking process, which can take more time than usual. And sometimes by resourcing through agencies, organisations are not able to find such a candidate who is perfect for the vacancy. Education liaison Another form of recruitment which is available for employee recruitment is widely used known as education liaison. In this method, managers recruiting people directly from the educational institutions. The most attractive recruitment is of graduate recruitment. The Careers advisers in schools and colleges, and university appointment boards, may be able to provide suitable candidates. According to McKenna Beech (2002), some of the organisations traditionally taken the employees from education institutions have operated many processes to recruit the young people, who are in their final-year or just completed their studies. Many organisations also recruit young educated employees through open days, recruitment fairs, careers fairs and careers conventions. This type of resourcing is normally prove to be very benificial for banks/organisations because they attract those candidates who are familiar with the new ways and techniques of business field and also enthusiastic to develop their carrers. Other Methods There are some others methods too available to mangers for resourcing. One of them isPersonal recommendation. It is often referred to as word of mouth and can be a recommendation from a colleague at work. A full assessment of the candidate is still needed however but potentially it saves on advertising cost. The current employees who is already working for the firm recommends someone they know. This takes place at all levels of business. A director may recommend that a friend should be appointed to the board of directors. In such kind of recruitment diversity of the organisation effected because the candidate reffered through word of mouth is very similar to the employee who reffered him/her, which can be a negative impact on the culture of the organisation. In most of the cases the first major contact between a candidate and an employer is CV or application form. But some organisations use an alternative in the shape of telephone hotline. The organisations publicise their contact numbers for the candidates to discuss the vacancies availability and requirements. This method is normally used for quick response. According to the McKenna Beech (2002), the use of Internet is as a means of recruitment has been mounting now a day. Applicants all over the world use internet to gain the information about the companies, their vacancies and processes of application. This method provide candidates a system of self screening through which they can find out that whether they are suitable for the required position. For instance, Cisco System and Dell are the big examples of recruiting employees exclusively on internet. Some other recruitment methods are television, radio, cinemas, government training schemes, waiting lists, trade union referral suppliers etc Pros: There is a larger pool of skilled people from which the organisation chooses the best suitable for their vacancy. The new employees bring in new ideas for the development of an organisation. Sometimes the new employee has a wider range of experience which is quite worthwhile for any organisation. Cons: Sometimes few methods are ruled out in external recruitment because of the time constraint. The methods of recruitment in such a haste are very few i.e. employment agencies, job centres, personal contacts and local newspaper advertisement. And because of less time to spend on the process, probably the method chosen by the recruiters is not the best suited for the post. Another main issue in external recruitment is the huge volume of applications received by recruiters and the ability to deal with applications screening them effectively e.g. advertisement in newspaper for senior accounts manager or opening a new branch etc Selection methods Recruitment proceeds selection of the candidate. It is considered to be a very crucial stage in which candidates matched to the requirements of the job are selected. There are number of methods and techniques for doing this process i.e. face-to-face interviews, self-test questionnaires, biodata, assessment centres, selection tests etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This is the stage where successful candidates get an offer of employment. It is often thought that the selection process is very simple in which wanted against offered is matched and then selecting the best fit for it. Overall, it all boils down to choosing the right candidate for the right position and at the right time. Organisations would not want it the other way around. Employee selection applying these high-tech solutions reduces the cost and time spent in recruiting and selecting qualified candidates. According to the Pilbeam Cobridge (2002), there are some different ways of employee selection used by organisations i.e. interview, psychometric testing, work sampling, assessment centres, biodata, graphology and online questionnaire. There is the explanation of some of the selection methods use by the organisations. Interviews The most popular selection technique is the interview either by face-to-face or in front of the interview panel. According to Lewis (1985), although the validity of interview is considered very low but it is still popular for selection. Interview provides the basis of two way exchange of information which is very useful to determine that the candidate is an appropriate person for the organisation and its culture. Shackleton and Newell (1991), highlights the point that every organisation use a interview sample at least once in the selection process. There are mainly two types of interview, structured and unstructured. According to McDaniel et al. (1994), structured interviews are more valid for selection purpose than unstructured one. This can be useful for two way exchange of ideas and information. It helps to improve the quality of decision but (Heffcutt and Arthur, 1994) it is not improving the validity. In unstructured or triditional interviews candidates asked different type of q uestions from which interviewer gets information about applicant in an unsystematic manner and draw the conclusion in his mind whether or not offer the job to applicant. Which may lead the poor selection. There are some very common problems with unstructured interview explains below. The first and the foremost problem is the undue influence or bais behaviour of the interviewer. Interviewer sometimes given the positive or negative response to candidate from his CV/application form or on the basis of similar qualities, background, career, personality or attitude, in other way decision is just on the basis of personal likeness or dislikeness. Sometimes the interviewer is not a fully trained person for conduct an interview and lead to a wrong decision of selection of employee. Poor questioning is also a big problem of these interviews because interviewer ask questions designed for the initial impression of candidates and make a decision way to early about applicants. These problems play a big part while selection process. If the organisation not overcome these problems before the interview process then it lead towards discrimination with applicants or the wrong selection of an employee. Work-based Test When an organisation want to access the abilities and altitude of applicants competence, a work-based test can be used. In this test candidates have to come with the different and logical ideas as a solution of a problem presented infront of the. They required to undertake some typical tasks associated with the job, which shows the quality of their work and on these basis applicants are assessed. For example applicants could be given with the series of theoretical situations and want them to respond at the mean time. This is very similar to the situational interview. Another example is the individual performance of an applicant in a group work, where two or more applicants discuss a specific assignment and then their performance in the discussion is accessed. Work-based tests are very valuable because these tests provides the actual competence and ability of an applicant. In Pakistan, the useage of work-based test is quite low for selection of an employee but it is extensively used ( Lockyer, 1996) in United Kingdom. Biodata When candidates apply for the job, normally they fill an application form or submit a CV or both. From these application forms and CVs managers find a key biographical information about the candidates i.e. age, education, interests, personal history and employment history. In selection particular things of a candidates biographical profile receives higher score then others because these features are most appropriate and required ones for the vacancy. Shackleton and Newell (1991), indicate that only 20% of the organisations used biodata as a selection tool to some extent and only 4% for all vacancies, which is increasing now a day but still very hard (Wilkinson, 1997) to find any evidence of a broader spread of biodata. Sometimes employers have difficulty in choosing the right person for the vacant post in their organisation. Employee selection promises to be a difficult task especially if the current recruitment systems fall below industry standards and fail to meet the companys recr uitment objective. One specific aspect in employee selection is data inquiry. HR system users usually require a list of all the possible candidates for a position in ranking order. Ranking employee selection is achieved using software solutions that efficiently go through application data by matching candidate resumes and other pertinent application documents with the job requirement. An automated system generally ensures an accurate and fast result for various types of employee selection inquiry. According to the Brown and Campion (1994), there are some advantages and usefulness of biodata as a selection tool. It is very useful to screen the large number of applications in response of an advertisement. It is very systematic approach which helps to improve the selection decisions. If referances considered as a selection tool then it is very useful as it provides honesty and moral integrity of applicant which is vital consideration. The big disadvantage of biographical test is the la rge amount of time required for this exercise. Another potential draw back is biasism against certain groups or communities. Another draw back is of referances as a selection device because applicant nominates refrees and the choosen persons are very unlikely to provide any negative assesment. According to Hunter Hunter (1984), generally the strength and consistency of referances are pretty poor but still remains accepted in UK. Employment References This is the third of three selection techniques know as classic trio and the other two are interviews and application forms explained above. Normally organisations asked to shortlist candidates to provide them at least two referances which considered to be an important contribution to selection. This is one of the last tools used for selection of a candidate. Referances are taken for two major purposes, one is to provide confirmation that the information provided by applicant is right and the other is persons character referance. According to the IRS (2002a), approximately 70% of the referances are taken following the decision of selection has been made. Conclusions/summary This review of the literature highlights a range of issues and perspectives for the approach to recruitment and selection of employees which has implications for the Pakistani banking sector. There is not a specific perfect recruitment and selection process available for banks for resourcing of employees. It depends upon the size and culture of the bank that what kind of resourcing policy performs. There are several good ways identified for resourcing of employees. For example the best methods of recruitment in small banks is internal recruitment i.e. promotion of an employee and for big organisation it is it is external recruitment i.e print media, as it has less problems to deal with. And for Selection, interviews are the most common and widely tool used by banks. There are some important findings/issues highlighted from the above literature review. The specific areas through primary research are followings. Rational for the type of recruitment resourcing policies used. The role of stakeholders (HR managers line managers) in recruitment and selection. Identification of key issues experianced. The next chapter outlines and explains the research design adopted to investigate these implications from the perspectives of HR managers with responsibility for recruitment and selection.

The Automobile and the Environment :: Business and Management Studies

The Automobile and the Environment a) Negative externalities are impacts on 'outsiders' that are disadvantageous to them. The externalities occur where the actions of firms or individuals have an effect on the people other than themselves. In the case of negative externalities the external effects are costs on other people. They are also known as external costs. There may be external costs from both production and consumption. If these are added to the private costs we get the total social costs. An example of negative externalities would be the side effects of production processes e.g. the pollution (noise, dust, vibration) endured by people living next to a quarry. b) From looking at the data we can see that since 1974 the cost of public transport has increased quite rapidly relative to the base rate of 100 compared to the cost of motoring which has steadily decreased. Initially it was the real cost of motoring which increased but by 1975 it had started to decline and continued to do so until the late 1970's. It then increased quickly for a short period until 1982 ending up just above the base rate and remaining there until 1985. It then steadily declined up until 1994. Public transport on the other hand has been increasing since 1974. The real cost of rail travel has increased steadily with a few dips ending up in 1994 at just over 165. The real cost of bus travel has also increased over the 20 year period but more gradually with a sharp rise in 1988 followed by a fall in 1990 but then a final increase ending up in 1994 at just over 140. c) The fact that the cost of oil/petrol fell over the 20year period of 1974-1994 and the cost of public transport rose is why there is such a big gap between them. The cost increases and decreases could have happened for a number of reasons. The cost of petrol decreases when supply is greater than demand or when demand is low. Transport costs could have rose if the demand is too great for it or to increase revenue for councils/government. If public transport needs to be modernised/repaired than also putting the prices up enables extra revenue to spend on these things. d) The classic way to adjust for externalities is to tax those who create negative externalities. This is sometimes known as 'making the polluter pay.' The government needs to assess the cost to a society of a particular externality. It then sets tax rates on those externalities equal to the value of the externality. This increases costs to customers by shifting the supply curve to the left.

E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Essay

E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Personal communication over distance used to be laborious – considerable physical impediments slowed the process. In the 1800’s, an aristocratic gentlemen hand-penned a letter with a quill pen and bottled ink, sealed the envelope with melted wax, and sent a footman to hand-deliver the missive to his faraway love; in the midst of battle, foot-soldiers ran relays across hostile territories, rushing battle plans to waiting troops; news of the California gold rush galloped across America by horseback. Even our modern postal service takes at least a day – with numerous people, and ground and air transportation involved – to move a letter from point A to point B. In years past, knowing a personal letter could take weeks to reach its recipient increased its significance. The writer thoughtfully chose paper, pen and ink, taking time to consider the message. Guided by historically-evolved etiquette and a sense of social propriety, he created an artful object by combining written thoughts with an individualized medium that reflected personal style (Landow 221). Sherry Turkle writes in Virtuality and Its Discontents â€Å"the (letter bears) the trace of the physical body of the person who sen(ds) it† (481). A written letter has meaningful form and content. You know the recipient either personally or by public reputation, and you know their residence or workplace. Enter the personal computer: today, a dude clicks away, instant-messaging his favorite chick; complicated war strategies are instantly e-mailed across secure computer networks; chat rooms create never-ending global cocktail parties. Two PC’s with Internet connections equal instant communication, instant gr... ...igital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 62-74. Bob Dylan Website. www.bobdylan.com. Assessed 1 August 2004 Landow, G. â€Å"Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?† 1996. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 214-226. Stevens, M. â€Å"Complex Seeing: A New Form.† 1998. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 418-442. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, A. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003 Turkle, S. â€Å"Virtuality and Its Discontents.† 1995. . Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 477-499. E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Essay E-mail, Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms: The New Letter? Personal communication over distance used to be laborious – considerable physical impediments slowed the process. In the 1800’s, an aristocratic gentlemen hand-penned a letter with a quill pen and bottled ink, sealed the envelope with melted wax, and sent a footman to hand-deliver the missive to his faraway love; in the midst of battle, foot-soldiers ran relays across hostile territories, rushing battle plans to waiting troops; news of the California gold rush galloped across America by horseback. Even our modern postal service takes at least a day – with numerous people, and ground and air transportation involved – to move a letter from point A to point B. In years past, knowing a personal letter could take weeks to reach its recipient increased its significance. The writer thoughtfully chose paper, pen and ink, taking time to consider the message. Guided by historically-evolved etiquette and a sense of social propriety, he created an artful object by combining written thoughts with an individualized medium that reflected personal style (Landow 221). Sherry Turkle writes in Virtuality and Its Discontents â€Å"the (letter bears) the trace of the physical body of the person who sen(ds) it† (481). A written letter has meaningful form and content. You know the recipient either personally or by public reputation, and you know their residence or workplace. Enter the personal computer: today, a dude clicks away, instant-messaging his favorite chick; complicated war strategies are instantly e-mailed across secure computer networks; chat rooms create never-ending global cocktail parties. Two PC’s with Internet connections equal instant communication, instant gr... ...igital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 62-74. Bob Dylan Website. www.bobdylan.com. Assessed 1 August 2004 Landow, G. â€Å"Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?† 1996. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 214-226. Stevens, M. â€Å"Complex Seeing: A New Form.† 1998. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 418-442. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, A. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003 Turkle, S. â€Å"Virtuality and Its Discontents.† 1995. . Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 477-499.

SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS OWNER :: essays research papers

SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS OWNER DAVID STEWARD CEO & FOUNDER, WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY David Steward grew up in a Christian home in a small town of Clinton, Missouri. As a teen, he lived through the racially tense ‘60s, attending segregated schools, sitting in the balcony of the movies, and being barred from the public swimming pool. David doesn’t harbor any negative feelings about having to endure those days, especially since his mother warned him against becoming bitter and resentful. He literally lived on the other side of the railroad tracks, but learned that division doesn’t work. Though his family had few material possessions, David believes he inherited considerable wealth from his parents because they taught him what was important: treating people right. David recalled homeless people stopping by the house. â€Å"No one was ever turned away,† he said. â€Å"I saw faith in action.† David also remembers his mother giving her lat dollar to the church. He knew that it was seed to be sown with the expectation of a harvest. These principles of sowing and reaping have stayed with him his entire life. David always had a lifelong dream of owning his own business. It was a burning desire inside of him. After college, he spent ten years in sales for three Fortune 500 companies. As the senior accountant for a major corporation, David was awarded Salesman of the Year and was made a member of the company’s hall of fame. They presented an ice bucket with his initials engraved inside. David looked inside the bucket and realized that it was empty. This was a defining moment; he asked himself is this what he really wants out of life. At the time, David and his family were living paycheck to paycheck, but David had complete faith in God. It was clear in his mind that his belief in God, coupled with the desire to work hard to serve others, meant he was destined to succeed. After many years and five failed companies, he finally figured out the secret to success, ‘treat people right.’ He launched Transport Administrative Services in 1987. The company’s purpose was to provide online automated transportation audit services to seven major rail carriers. He later decided to diversify his business interest by capitalizing the start-up of World Wide Technology (WWT) in 1990 on a shoestring budget and 7 employees. He wanted to be part of one the greatest revolutions that ever hit history, the information stage.

A Character Analysis of the Book “A Painted House”

How do unpleasant realities of life are presented and experienced by a seven-year-old boy? As the child travels from being an innocent into becoming an experienced person, both the good and bad facets of life will eventually shape his emotions, perspectives and dealings with other people.In doing so, the breaking of the child’s innocence turns into a learning experience which he and even the people around him may use as an instrument to continue living in accordance with the norms of the society. While it is expected that life realities, when witnessed from a boy’s point of view, may be rather unclear or incomplete, this does not necessarily mean that the child is totally unaware and unmoved of its accompanying and eventual implications.This is because a child may be physically small but he is able to grasp what the society is presenting to him and ultimately identifies the good and bad things which he needs to keep and disregard, respectively. Manifestations of such ab ilities are evident among almost all children because they are naà ¯ve by nature.Such innate and youthful characteristics open a child to many opportunities and possibilities. When guided properly, a child may use life realities, however harsh they are, to work to his or her advantage and even to the benefit of other people and the society in general.One book which ideally depicts the said quality of a child in John Grisham’s 2001 book titled â€Å"A Painted House.† Aside from its notable plot, which is about the story-telling of a seven-year-old boy of the struggles facing his family’s cotton-picking business in rural Arkansas in 1952, the Grisham novel is most worth-reading because of the character of the young protagonist – Luke Chandler (Grisham, 2001).In fact, it is the said struggles which brought out the best in Luke because of the fact that even at a young age, he is determined to help out in their business and in his little way, solve the proble ms even if his mother always tells him: â€Å"Don’t worry.The men will find something to worry about† (Grisham 1). The ways how Luke dealt with his growing-up miseries through his exposure to the cruel realities of life, Grisham succeeded in imparting to the public a touching novel about a child’s journey from being an innocent child into becoming a knowledgeable person (Grisham, 2001).Manifestations of above awakening are evident with the power of Luke to overcome the cruelties in his life which he personally witnessed. These include a murder, a rape incident which has resulted into pregnancy and an illegitimate child, the poverty of the Mexicans and hill people and other adult-related obstacles.The novel, as seen from the view of Luke, told of the unwavering determination of the Chandler family to make their business survive and show to the people of Arkansas that despite living in an unpainted house, their cotton-picking trade will pick up. While the author s tands out in his law-related books because of their plots, Grisham’s A Painted House novel definitely shines because of the character of Luke.Using the first-person point of perspective of Luke, the author effectively provided the public with a view of the hardships which then challenged the people of Arkansas (Grisham, 2001).Through the eyes of Luke, A Painted House serves as a blank paper where the author excellently writes the details which happened in the United States after World War II. The character of the protagonist is one which is filled with many real incidents and people albeit presented through Luke’s youthful point of view. In fact, Luke’s life is very simple and his world is small with the family’s business of cotton-picking being his concentration.The child in Luke is presented in the book many times with the Chandler family trips to town on Saturdays, church activities on Sundays, special treats at carnivals and the boy’s ultimate dream to play baseball as attested by his statement that he will not be a farmer but a baseball player (Grisham 5).However, as Luke takes on his journey, becomes exposed to the characters in his life such as his family and the workers composed of the hill people and Mexicans as well as harsh realities of life, the boy unwittingly somehow grows as an experienced person even at a young age.Hence, it is worthy to consider how Luke, in his simple yet uplifting manner, is able to address and cope with cruel issues which confronted his young life. The life realities which are too enormous and difficult for Luke to realize but triumphantly handled include the ethical conflicts about a murder case, a child born out of wedlock and even the financial destruction that hit the area.Despite these cruelties which Luke’s innocence may be unable to understands, it is remarkable to consider that the boy’s naà ¯ve personality managed the said dilemmas. Beyond Luke’s notable trai ts and abilities in his original innocence as manifested by his child-like faith when he believes that God has control over anything just like there is reason when rains sweep away their harvests.It is during the boy’s journey, where he is faced with the true events of life, that Luke is able to attain his experience and realizes that indeed there is reason for every thing that happens. This is evident when he said â€Å"I was certain there was a reason the Cardinals lost the pennant, but I couldn’t understand why God was behind it† (Grisham 251).